and he would also tell fbi agents to try to circulate this in chicago. so this is one of these sort of hidden rumors that in '52 nobody talked about this openly; it was too soon. but there was a lot of whispering around about how adlai stevenson was gay. and this was totally untrue and totally unfair. and so when we think about dirty campaigns, i think we've got to remember 1952 as a very dirty campaign. c-span: you say that near the end he ballooned to 200 pounds. >> guest: 220 pounds, yeah. c-span: what was his normal weight when he was governor? >> guest: probably about 160, 180. c-span: what happened? >> guest: well, i think the last part of his life he really became somewhat obsessive. he did have a family background of a mother and father who were full of nerves, who were neurasthenics, who spent most of their adult lives seeking spas and often went off to harvey kellogg's battle creek sanitarium. and i think stevenson had some of this nervousness and perhaps you would call him a neurotic at the end. but people noted that he would, at parties, just